While Mojo's Away
by Red 000
Summary: When Mojo Jojo is sent to prison during his week to watch the Rowdyruff Boys, Brick, Boomer, and Butch need a place to stay. When no one volunteers to watch the super-powered psychos, the mayor suggests Professor Utonium is best for the job.
1. Thank You, Mojo Jojo!

**_'April showers bring May flowers...' _Yeah, well they also bring thunderstorms. Thunderstorms make the lights flicker which cuts off my power and turns off my labtop so I can't post. In other words, I can't really put much of A/N on here. Deepest appologies, even though I doubt you guys even enjoy my ramblings. Ah well, it's all the usual:**

**No Pairings.**

**Rowdyruffs. (_Own.)_**

**Disclaimer: **I hearby say that I do not own any characters in this story even though if you haven't figured that out you're probably not that bright. (This disclaimer goes for the rest of the chapters in this story).

**Enjoy :)**

* * *

Mojo growled as he sat in a Townsville jail cell, staring up at the stone ceiling and thinking about how his plan went wrong. He had all the calculations on his machine right… He had about a tenth of Townsville destroyed… What happened?

_"Yes! Yes! YES!" Mojo boosted, laughing manically as his giant robot crushed buildings below him. "Soon all of Townsville will crumble at the genius that is ME! MOOOOJOOO JOJO! Muhahahahahahaha – Huh?" A small tapping sound on the glass of his cockpit caused his attention to shift. There, floating in the air, were the three girls he despised: Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. His grin grew wider than their cocky smirks._

_"You girls think you can defeat Mojo? Well not this time, for I, MOOOOJOOO JOJO, will be the dominant victor. Yes I, MOOOOJOOO Jojo! Shall show you three girls who is more – "_

_Outside of the soundproof glass the girls watched Mojo ramble in his cockpit. _

_"What's he saying?" Bubbles asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion._

_"I don't know… but can we finish this up? I've got homework." Blossom complained._

_"And furthermore, I MOOOJOOO Jojo will defeat you once and for all! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!"_

Oh… right. _That's _how it went horribly wrong. About five minutes after that, the hyper-intelligent chimp was thrown out of his robot, into a police van, and ultimately, a jail cell. Mojo grabbed the sides of his bed and squeezed the uncomfortable mattress.

"Stupid Powerpuff Girls!" He growled to himself and rolled over on his side. "They always ruin my plan! Next time, it will be different! For I, Mojo Jojo, will take over Townsville, and then, THE WORLD!" Mojo laughed until his neighboring cellmate told him to shut up. After a while though, exhaustion got to the monkey and he was about to doze off into a sleep, but a single thought kept him awake.

Mojo had this strange feeling he was forgetting something very important, but it couldn't have been all that important if he didn't remember it, right?

"Oh well," he mumbled to himself, drifting off into a sweet slumber. Whatever it was, it could wait until he got out in a few days…

* * *

"MOJO!" Brick pounded on the observatory's massive steel door. Butch lay on his back, mindlessly staring up at the sky while Boomer doodled in the dirt.

"Maybe we can break in," Boomer suggested, glancing up at his red brother.

"Mojo made his house Powerpuff proof," Butch started, gritting his teeth, "which means it's Rowdyruff proof. We can't get in."

"How about we go back to HIM's?" he asked, rubbing away his drawing with his sneaker as he stood up and stretched.

"The last time we went back to HIM's early he got mad at Mojo and they fought for three weeks," Brick's forehead rested on the door as he tried to think what to do. His eyes were closed and he gritted his teeth. Mojo always did this to them! He didn't know why he thought this week might have been different.

Brick's whole body shook with anger. He pounded his fists into the steel, barely denting the door. "MOOOOOJOOOOO!"

"Forget it, dude, he's not gonna answer." Butch sat upright and rubbed his temples. "I don't know why the stupid monkey agrees to watch us when he's never freakin' home!"

"Maybe he went out?" Brick and Butch glared at Boomer. "What? He could've!"

"Thank you, Mr. Positive!" Butch muttered sarcastically and fell backwards to lie down again. "This is so stupid! Where the heck are we gonna sleep?"

"I don't know, dude…" Brick sighed and slid down the wall to sit. He buried his head in his knees as he silently thought of something to do. Mojo didn't _forget_ about them… right? Sure he was a scatterbrained, idiot, but he didn't straight up… forget, did he?

"We could try a hotel," Boomer suggested, squinting off into town.

"With what money, Boomer?" Butch snapped.

"We could break a window…"

"I could break your leg…"

"It was just a suggestion!"

"A stupid one!"

"Well, I don't hear you mentioning anything!"

"Well, I'm thinking of something that'll actually _help!_"

"And I'm not?"

"No."

"Yes, I am!"

"No, you ain't!"

"SHUT UP!" Brick shouted, stopping both his brothers. "Look, we've got time to think about this, right? It's not like we need a place to crash right now."

A loud crack of thunder erupted in the sky and all three boys jumped. Their heads slowly rose up, hoping they had all imagined the loud 'boom'. A lone raindrop dropped on the bridge of Butch's nose, causing the boy to blink and cross his eyes.

"You were saying…?" He muttered. Almost instantly afterwards, Townsville became a blur to a shower of rain.

"Under the observatory!" Brick shouted, darting underneath Mojo's house. His brothers soon followed him, but all three boys were already completely soaked. Boomer shivered and his sneakers sunk in the mud.

"Guys… this really sucks."

"All our clothes are ruined…" Butch muttered as he watched their bags get drenched in the rain.

"Dude, I think there's mold under here…" Boomer poked at the top of the observatory, and dirt and dust fell on his face. He shivered again as a breeze crept under their house. Lightning shot across the sky and lit up Townsville in a brilliant white light. The thunder caused the three to jump, and Boomer squeaked slightly, moving closer to his brothers.

"You ain't scared of a little thunder, are ya, Boom?" Butch asked, grabbing his brother's shoulders and grinning evilly. Boomer bit his lip.

"N-No…" he stuttered. Butch laughed.

"Haha! Sissy!"

"I'm not a sissy!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"GUYS!" Brick shouted, "SHUT UP! You're both sissies!" There was an awkward silence between the boys for a while and all that was heard was the patter of the rain.

"Am not…" Boomer muttered, breaking the silence. Butch punched Boomer who responded with an 'Ow' before smacking the green ruff in the face. Brick growled and joined the two. It was hard fighting under the observatory, but they somehow managed to do it.

Just as they were about to announce a winner, a loud 'Boom' in the sky made all three boys jump and freeze in fear.

"You're afraid of thunder too, Butch!" Boomer shouted, pushing the green ruff off of him.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

_**BOOM!**_

The boys jumped again. "A-Am not…"Butch stuttered. Boomer was too scared to even respond.

There was a bit of silence as they shivered in the cold. Air swept under the building and nipped at their tiny, drenched bodies. All of them were soaked and caked in mud.

"Why is it s-s-so c-c-cold?" Boomer shivered. "We're on a f-f-freakin' volc-cano!"

"M-M-ojo d-d-drained it, d-d-dummmmmy…." Butch's teeth clattered in his mouth. "W-We're g-g-gonna f-f-f-freeze to d-d-eath."

"N-No, w-we w-w-wont!" Brick shouted. "Just get c-closer together, w-we'll k-keep w-warmer that way."

Butch and Boomer looked at Brick with raised eyebrows.

"I t-think I'd rather f-f-freeze to d-death…" Butch responded. Another gasp of wind swept under the observatory. All three boys squeezed their eyes shut in pain. Without another word, Boomer and Butch scooted over to their red brother. Their backs were facing each other and their knees were pulled up to their chests as they shivered and tried to keep warm.

For about an hour, there was silence. The only form of movement was shivering bodies and jerking from thunder. A low growl from the blue ruff caused the other two to look up curiously. Boomer grabbed his stomach.

"G-Guys, I'm hungry…"

"M-Me too," Butch added. Brick looked up.

"D-Didn't you eat at HIM-M-M's?" They both shook their heads. Brick was silently surprised. He thought he was the only one who skipped out on dinner.

"I t-thought w-w-e'd eat h-here…" Boomer stuttered. His blonde hair was plastered on the sides of his face. Brick frowned and looked at Butch. His jet-black hair was longer than Boomer's, but it too fell into his eyes. His brothers looked like one of those third-world country kids that begged people to give them money and food. He sighed. He probably looked the same, if not worse.

"I hate that stupid monkey…" he muttered. Butch and Boomer nodded in agreement and dropped their eyes; burying their heads in their knees. It was going to be a long night…

* * *

**It's short, I know. The next chapter will be longer, but I gotta go. Lights are flickering again. Peace!**

**-**_Red_


	2. A Wonderful McRonald Adventure

**So, I definitely must've been on something when I first uploaded this chapter. _You_ guys might not have noticed anything, but I re-read my stories about eighty times and re-write, re-upload, re-peat about a hundred more and even then I'm not completely happy with it. I wanted to work on the next chapter, but I kept stopping myself with: _How can you start the next chapter when the last one SUCKS?! _...I couldn't. So I had to fix this up... like... a lot. Hah! It's still the same story, still the same outcome, just more detail, better grammer, and it made it a little longer too. Oh well, here's the update. :D**

* * *

"I wish it would stop raining…" Bubbles sighed as she looked outside the window. A loud 'Boom' erupted in the sky and caused the blue puff to squeak in fear and withdraw from the windowsill.

"You ain't afraid of a little thunder are ya, Bubbles?" Buttercup mocked, giggling as she looked up from her class work as she finished the last problem.

"No!" Bubbles defended, but she gave the window an uneasy look as she walked back over to her seat. "I just don't really like thunderstorms."

"Yeah, well, I love 'em; except when they stop you from having recess outside." Buttercup growled and looked up at the clock. "It's been raining all day!"

"It's supposed to clear up around noon." Blossom stated behind her history text book. "Besides, it's not like anything bad is going to happen when it's raining. It'll be a nice day to get some work done for once, we're falling behind."

"No we're not!" Buttercup snapped. "We've turned in all our assignments."

"Yeah, Blossom, what are you talking about?" Bubbles blinked. "We've turned everything in."

Blossom set her book down and grinned at her sisters. "All our _class _assignments, but Ms. Keane gave out extra credit that we can turn in and it's due Friday."

"Yeah right, Blossom!" Buttercup laughed, "_You _can be a nerd if you want to be, but Bubbles and I are going to actually have fun!"

"Hey, Buttercup!" Mitch shouted, getting the green puff's attention. "Do you wanna play monster attack with us?"

"DO I?!" Buttercup shouted with excitement as she shot over with her friends. Blossom gave an annoyed sigh and glanced over at Bubbles who was back at the window.

"What's wrong, Bubbles?" Blossom asked as she floated over and joined her sister.

"I hate the rain." Bubbles frowned.

"It's letting up." Blossom pointed to the sky, the rain was a little more than a sprinkle now.

"But it leaves everything all wet and muddy!" Bubbles groaned.

"I KNOW!" Mitch shouted having overheard their conversation, "that's the best part! Then you can go roll around in the mud!" He kicked over Buttercup's building blocks and both started laughing.

A loud buzzing blared throughout the classroom, drowning out chatter and the patter of rain.

"Alright! The hotline!" Buttercup cheered, "Finally, some action!"

Blossom rolled her eyes and answered the phone. "Hello, Mr. Mayor? …What? No way! …Why? Alright, we're on our way!" She looked over at her sisters.

"Girls, we've got Rowdyruff trouble! Let's go!" As if rehearsed, the three shot out the window and headed for town.

* * *

"Guys, wake up!" Boomer gently shook his brothers. "The rain's stopping."

"Go away, Boom…" Butch mumbled as he swatted at his brother. Brick rubbed his eyes and moaned.

"What time is it?" the red leader asked. His body was sore and he felt oddly weak. Butch beside him coughed.

"My throat hurts…" Butch whined as he rubbed his throat and tried to swallow. "Can we go get food now?"

"Yeah, food sounds good…" Boomer added. Brick looked out from under the observatory.

"It's still raining Boomer." He mumbled, "You said it stopped."

"No, I said it's _stopping_, and it is, look." Brick crawled out from under the observatory and squinted at the sudden rush of harsh light. His brothers did the same and they both appeared at his sides.

"Maybe we should just stay under the observatory…" Boomer glanced back under the muddy house.

"Why? Afraid of getting wet?" Butch asked, as he looked at his drenched brother. Boomer gave him a scornful look.

"Let's go get some food." Brick stated, before jumping off the volcano; catching himself just before hitting the ground, and flying off into town. Boomer and Butch quickly followed him. Their stomachs ached too much to argue or fight at the moment.

Brick had stopped just outside a McRonald's fast food restaurant. Breakfast was over, but the ruff's were too hungry to be picky at the moment.

"Ready to do what ruff's do best, boys?" Brick grinned as he looked at the drive thru window and then glanced back at his brother. Butch and Boomer snickered as they nodded their heads in agreement.

"Here you go, sir!" The McRonald's employee said with a smile as he handed a bag of steamy-hot food over to the man sitting in his car. "Six cheeseburgers, extra everything with—Hey!" The bag was ripped from the man's grip as a blur of red, darted in-between the car and the building. Two streaks of blue and green followed the red, but stopped in front of both men.

Butch punched the man in the car while Boomer punched the employee. Both laughed, high-fived, then dashed off to catch their brother in the park across the street.

Brick laughed and tossed two burgers to each of his brothers before unwrapping one himself.

"Finally!" Boomer cheered, his mouth watering and his stomach screaming out for the delicious meal, "FOOD!"

"NOT SO FAST, ROWDYRUFF BOYS!"

Brick sighed and rolled his eyes. The other boys dropped their burgers too to glance over at the Powerpuffs that were standing a few feet away from them.

"We weren't going to eat fast," Boomer stated, somewhat annoyed, "we were gonna enjoy it!"

Butch growled and punched his brother's arm. "Shut up, stupid!"

"I'm afraid we can't let you eat them at all!" Blossom continued. Bubbles stared in awe.

"What happened to you guys?" She was, of course, referring to the boys being caked in mud, in soaking wet clothes and having bags under their orbs-of-eyes.

"None of your business, you stupid, wimpy girls!" Butch shouted.

"Stupid?" Blossom snapped, taken aback; the issue on the ruffs condition completely dropped.

"We're gonna beat the snot outta you boys, and then you tell us who's wimpy!" Buttercup growled.

Brick laughed. "We'll show you, stupid girls!" He quickly stood up, but almost fell back down. The lack of food and sleep was getting to him. He was too weak to fight, all the ruffs were, but Brick wasn't going to back down and let some _girl_ win. When he realized he was the only one standing, he shot a glare over to his brothers.

"We're not gonna let a bunch of girls beat us are we?" the red ruff taunted. Even in his weakened state, he was far too prideful to get shot down by the Powerpuffs. Butch and Boomer exchanged questionable glances.

"If it means I get to keep my food, I just might let them…" Boomer muttered. Butch almost agreed, but an evil look from Brick made him change his mind. The green ruff weakly smacked his brother's food away and the two got in a fighting stance with their brother.

"We'll show you, Power-stupids!" Boomer shouted. Butch relaxed his muscles and looked at his brother with an 'I-can't_-believe-_you-just-said-that' look. He was about to hit him, but instead he pulled his hand down his face in frustration.

"Boomer, you are such an idiot…"

"Let's go, girls!" Blossom shouted. The three puffs shot into the sky and the ruffs quickly followed them. Brick attempted to punch Blossom, but he was too slow and she maneuvered her way around his fist by spinning like a ballerina and whipping around to kick him in his side. His body was already sore, so the forceful knock hurt twice as much as usual; sent the boy spiraling downward.

Unlike Brick, Butch managed to land a few punches, but nothing did serious damage to the green puff. Buttercup grabbed both of Butch's wrists after a few dud attempts of punching her. She yanked his body towards her and kneed him right in the stomach. He doubled over in pain for about a second before she back flipped and kicked his chin, sending him backwards and toward the ground.

Boomer was getting exhausted from simply _trying _to hit Bubbles. The girl danced and spun around in the air, dodging everything he threw at her. Eventually, he stopped and panted from dizziness and exhaustion. He tried one more go at hitting the puff with a weak swing, but she blocked his fist and punched his face instead.

All three boys fell to the ground and landed on the concrete with a 'thud'. They slowly got up and moaned before snapping their attention to the three girls that dropped down in front of them with arms crossed and grins plastered on their faces.

"Had enough, Rowdyruffs?" Blossom demanded. Brick's eyes widened. There was no way they could beat them today; him and his brothers were too exhausted and weak to do anything to physical, and it was unfair to them if he forced them to fight.

"Dude, they're kicking our butts!" Boomer whispered. Butch's eyes darted from Boomer to the puffs, then to Brick.

"What're we gonna do? We can't win this one!"

Brick bit his lip. His next words killed him to say, but he forced them out of his throat, "We gotta run." He threw his attention back to the puffs and put on a grin only his brothers recognized as a ruse.

"Hey Powerpuffs!" He shouted. The girls didn't flinch. Snorting as much snot as he could (which was a lot considering he had a stuffy nose), he spat a loogie at the three who screamed and scattered away in disgust. The boys took the short distraction to jet away and around the city as fast as their tired little bodies would let them until they ultimately ended up under the observatory again.

"I think… we lost them…" Boomer panted, collapsing into the mud.

Butch, who was already lying down, tried to swallow, but his throat was too dry.

"We were so close, dudes! So freakin' _close!" _He wanted to cry from his sore throat and hunger pains, but he wouldn't let himself.

Brick bit his tongue as he held back tears himself. His sore body ached from lack of sleep, his stomach longed for food… Brick squeezed his eyes shut as he thought of HIM's house. _His _house. His nice warm bed, the refrigerator with endless amounts of food… At HIM's; they didn't have to steal. Sure, stealing was fun, but at HIM's, they didn't have to fight for their food.

"I'm so… tired…" Boomer trailed off. Butch lazily looked over at his brother, feeling the about same.

"This isn't fair," Butch mumbled as he curled into a ball and tried to ignore his growling stomach. "Stupid… Power… puffs…" Butch sighed and slowly closed his eyes. His breathing slowed down and his face relaxed indicating that he was asleep along with Boomer who was resting on the green ruff's chest.

Brick blinked away tears. His eyes were starting to hurt from holding them back, but he still wouldn't let himself cry. He hugged his stomach and coiled into ball, slowly letting the darkness consume him as he drifted off to sleep with his brothers.

* * *

"I just can't believe they got away!" Buttercup growled, throwing a tennis ball hard at the wall and catching it when it came back. She had been doing this for about an hour now. "We had them! We _so _had them this time, and they still. Got. AWAY!" She threw the ball so hard it dented the wall and rocketed back at her at a super speed that she still managed to keep up with.

It was almost 9:00 at night. The girls were in their pajamas and although they had a few minutes before bed, exhaustion was getting the better of them.

"Buttercup, calm down!" Blossom growled; catching the ball before it reached her sister. "I'm frustrated too, but we'll get them next time, okay?"

The green puff huffed and crossed her arms. "Next time, next time… that's all it is with you! It's never NOW!"

"They got _away_, Buttercup! There's nothing I can do about it!"

"Yeah, whatever." She dropped onto the bed and rolled over to rest on her stomach.

"It's okay, Buttercup," Bubbles smiled behind her purple octopus. "The Rowdyruff Boys are hard to fight."

"I know that, but something was different today…" she buried her face in her pillow, muffling her voice. "It was like they weren't even trying! If they didn't run, we would've got 'em!"

Blossom's brow furrowed. "I noticed that too, actually…"

Their attention shifted to a knock at the door.

"Come in, Professor!" They all said in unison and Professor Utonium walked through the door.

"Time for bed, girls," he smiled. The puffs laid down in their bed while the Professor pulled the covers over them and tucked them in, planting a kiss on each of their foreheads, "Goodnight, girls!"

"Goodnight, Professor!"

He left the room with a smile, remembering to crack the door and leave the hall light on for Bubbles. He walked over to his room and crawled into his bed, pulling the covers up to his chest, and switching his light off before finally dozing off.

…It was 3:17 AM when the phone rang. The Professor slowly cracked open his eyes and blinked to get used to his surroundings. He stretched, yawned, and lazily picked up the phone.

"Hello?" He yawned, somehow managing to talk.

"Professor Utonium?" It was Ms. Bellum. She sounded worried and somewhat desperate.

"Ms. Bellum?" he blinked himself awake, too tired to be surprised. "Why are you calling so early in the morning?" He didn't mean to sound annoyed, but it _was _three in the morning.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but this is a real emergency. Do you mind if we stop by?" Professor Utonium shot up, suddenly very much awake.

"Of course not, Ms. Bellum, by all means." He spun around so he could sit on the edge of his bed.

"Thank you, we'll be there shortly." There was a 'click' on the other end of the receiver and the Professor blinked. He put on his robe and slippers and quietly made his way down the hall to check on the girls.

One, two, three… he felt relieved. They were all there; safe and sound.

…Then what was the emergency?

Sighing, he headed downstairs to make some coffee and use the liquid as an attempt to wake up, but by the time it was done boiling, there was a knock on the door.

Two policemen, Ms. Bellum, and the mayor of Townsville stood outside the Utonium household. Ms. Bellum and the officers were each holding blanket bundles, tightly wrapped in their arms, while the mayor looked like he just woke up; sharing the pajama style with the professor.

"May we come in, Professor?" Ms. Bellum asked, her grip on the blanket tightening slightly. Utonium nodded, and guided his guests into the kitchen.

"Professor, what we are about to ask you is by all means not mandatory…" Ms. Bellum began, her voice still clinging to its desperate tone. She felt bad for waking him up, but she knew the circumstances made it beyond necessary. She cradled the blanket into a more comfortable position for herself, before continuing. "As you know, your girls stopped Mojo Jojo from destroying Townsville two days ago."

"Yes, I remember that," the Professor nodded, and smiled. Although the girls have stopped Mojo countless times, he was still proud of them when they came home and told him their story of how they beat up the monkey. Professor Utonium looked back at Ms. Bellum.

"Mojo told authorities that he felt he forgot something important and that he was fairly certain it was a nuclear reactor in his lab."

"Wow…" Utonium blinked. "Did you need me to defuse it?" Ms. Bellum shook her head and was about to continue before one of the officers spoke up.

"There was no nuclear reactor, we were about to just think it was a fluke, until we heard something from under the observatory."

"Under the observatory?" the Professor blinked and looked at the officer questionably. His eyes kept shifting to the blankets in everyone's arms. Something told him he wasn't going to like where this was going to end up. Ms. Bellum took a deep breath.

"The Rowdyruff boys were crammed under there. They were delusional, feverish, and unfed and they've been under there for a day or two."

The Professor opened his mouth to speak, but closed it and bit his lip. His eyes dropped to the bundle in Ms. Bellum's arm. She noticed his staring and lowered it, reveling the muddy face of the red ruff. His cheeks were rosy and his eyes were glazed over as beads of sweat ran down his face. He was shivering and smacking his tongue against the roof of his dry mouth.

The Professor gasped and was taken aback by surprise. Brick looked so much like Blossom; he had to remind himself that it wasn't her. Brick closed his eyes and moaned; scrunching his face into an expression that looked like pain. Ms. Bellum pulled him back into her arms before looking back up at the scientist.

"Professor, no one wants to watch the boys because they're… well…"

"They're the Rowdyruff Boys." The mayor finally spoke up, he had been in and out of consciousness throughout the conversation, but he felt he should throw in something. "I told the police that you would be more than willing to watch them until we can get a hold of their current caretaker, especially considering you're experienced with super-powered children."

"But again, you don't have to; we understand fully if you don't. I know it would be hard of an adjustment, especially because they're villains, but—" the Professor held up his hand to stop her.

"I'll watch them." He said. The four looked like a wave of relief just washed over them.

"They don't need to be hospitalized, but a bit of bed rest and they should be okay." Ms. Bellum stood up, "And I don't think you'll have a problem with them not listening to you. I seriously doubt they even think they know what's going on. They were pretty out of it when we pulled them out."

"It's okay, Ms. Bellum," He took Brick from her and motioned with his head for the officers to follow him upstairs. "The hardest part is going to be explaining to the girls why they're here."

Ms. Bellum laughed, "Yeah, but I'm sure they'll understand. We'll swing by tomorrow to see how they're doing and drop off some fresh clothes. Thank you, Professor." She walked outside with the mayor at her heels. The smaller man was practically sleepwalking out the door.

The Professor walked into the bathroom and ran the bath water.

"Set them over there, I'll take it from here." The officers nodded and left the bathroom, leaving the Professor and the ruffs alone.

Professor Utonium unwrapped the three boys and gently woke them up. All three looked up at him lazily, too tired to say a word.

He bit his lip at the exhausted children in front of him. All he could see were his daughters, his girls, his life. If the girls _ever_ came to him looking like this, someone would seriously pay.

"Come on," he motioned to the tub full of warm water. The boys glanced at each other, eyelids fluttering and their bodies swaying from side-to-side. "Come on, it's okay, come on…" The Professor nudged them slightly until they walked over to the tub and splashed in, fully clothed.

The warm water felt so good and relaxing on their cold and sore bodies that they couldn't move. Professor Utonium had to pull the boy's clothes off himself. He gently scrubbed the muck out of their hair with shampoo and washed all the mud off their bodies. The boys were falling asleep in the tub and he kept trying to get their attention to keep them awake.

Finally, he drained the water and dried the boys off; changing them into some clean, dry clothes (luckily Buttercup had some boy clothes, something that Blossom and Bubbles always teased her about).

The Professor scooped the three up and carried them off to the guest bedroom. The trip was short, but they were already falling asleep on the Utonium's shoulders. He gently laid their limp bodies in the bed, and covered them with a thick blanket. Curiously, he hovered his hand above the three boys and frowned.

Heat radiated off of them from the intensity of their fevers. Sighing, he headed back into the bathroom, wet three wash rags, and went back to the guest bedroom to put the rags on the ruffs foreheads before heading off to bed himself.

_"The hardest part is going to be explaining to the girls why they're here."_

He sighed. Tomorrow is going to be interesting…

* * *

**Better... but knowing me, I'm going to fix it again later. You guys just probably won't even notice, so no worries. :D I"ll get the new chapter up soon anyway. Peace!**

_-Red_


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